Please turn and get in your Bibles to Psalm 88. Psalm 88. Darkness. Often it is an ominous word. Children are frightened when parents send them to bed in a shadowy room. Accidents happen when light is obscured. Crimes are committed under the cover of darkness. As the calendar moves towards winter, yesterday was the first day of fall, as the calendar moves closer to winter, nights are longer, and when clouds hide the moon, the result makes our world seem even dimmer. In October, Our society takes advantage of the threatening nature of darkness to undergird the haunting scenes of the season. Have you ever noticed how Halloween lawn displays often look silly during the day, even while they may become ghoulish at night? In scripture, darkness often bodes trouble or evil. The first creative act described in Genesis 1 records that God said, let there be light. since darkness was over the face of the deep. Hebrews 12.18, referring to the deep gloom at Sinai, says that the darkness was so profound it could be felt. The absence of light has great spiritual significance. Twice the prophet Isaiah likens it to prison. And do you remember the story of Job? In the account of his profound troubles, the idea of darkness appears about 35 times. In the disasters of his life, he metaphorically encountered darkness. Paul tells us that we are to take no part in the works of darkness. He calls our spiritual enemies the power of darkness, and he asks the question, what communion has light with darkness? And our Lord Jesus, as he approaches his crucifixion, said this, this is the hour of the power of darkness. And you'll remember that during that horrible event, darkness reigned for three hours from noon until 3 p.m., those hours that are normally the brightest of the day. Well, here in Psalm 88, Heman the Ezraite describes his own experience using this word. In fact, in the original, in the Hebrew, and in most English translations, the last word that we hear or read when we go through this psalm is the word darkness. It begins with God, but it ends with this disturbing word. It is not immediately uplifting. As our brother was reading it, he Thank you, brother, for the way that you read it so clearly and plainly. But I was aware of what was happening in the room. And I could tell that our spirits were going down as we heard the words of this psalm. That's what it does. It's not uplifting. It turns our thoughts to unresolved gloom and anguish. Let's be honest. This is an emotionally charged psalm. and to read it any other way misses its power and undermines its usefulness. If you were to read commentaries on the book of Psalms, you would find that there's universal agreement that the 88th Psalm is the most sorrowful of all of the songs in this book. It is the honest cry of a disheartened saint in the midst of melancholy and misery and pain. Now, someone might ask the question, reasonable question, why then are you preaching on it? Well, the answer ought to be obvious. It is inspired scripture. Speaking of the Old Testament, Paul says this, whatever things were written before were written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. That's Romans 15.4. Well, my desire for you today is that Psalm 88 will assist your endurance and encourage you to have hope. As I prepared and read commentary, several of them point out that this 3,000-year-old inspired poem has been the means of aiding God's people for millennia. I pray that that may be true today. We might think of the Psalter, the Book of Psalms, in these ways. If an artist were to paint various Psalms in different colors according to their themes, we could find a wide variety of shades on the canvases. Psalms 1 and 23 might be predominantly green because they portray streams of water running through green pastures. Psalms 2 and 45 and 110 would be golden and purple for they describe messianic royalty. Psalms 22 and 69 and other crucifixion psalms might be crimson, reminding us of the death of the Son of God. But the most common color tone used to depict the Psalms would be blue, since at least in our culture, blue reflects the Psalms, the realities of lament. Did you know that there are more Psalms of lament among the 150 than of any other kind? They actually outnumber the rest. There's more sorrow and more complaint in the Psalms than there is joy. And these many Psalms of lamentation would be depicted as if they were blue. And among them, Psalm 88 would be the deepest possible hue of midnight blue. It would only be one shade away from black. Or we could put it another way. Since the psalms are intended to be sung, we might conjecture about appropriate tunes for them. Many comforting psalms, such as Psalm 23 or 91 and 92, would have pleasant melodies and harmonies to support their encouraging words. The royal psalms, psalms which speak about our king, might incorporate fanfares. The final five Psalms, 146 through 150, should reflect the jubilant and triumphant scene that is portrayed to us in Revelation 4 and 5. All of these would be written in a major key, with all the beauty and resolution of that kind of music. But once again, The largest segment of psalms, the laments, should be different. The appropriate musical setting for most of them would be a dominant minor key and perhaps a slow tempo with melancholic and evocative arrangements, making them beautiful in themselves but contemplative. Have you ever noticed in the Trinity Hymnal, when a tune is written in a minor key, it almost always is resolved into a major key in the final Amen. And that's the musical way of saying there is hope even when there is sadness. Now, if this principle were applied to the Psalms, many would be set to a minor key, moving to a major key at the end. But Psalm 88 is different. Not only would it be written in a minor key, its musical setting would be discordant and perhaps even harsh. And it would not naturally resolve into a major key, rather it would leave us waiting for something else, some musical element to bring us out of the depths. Because Psalm 88 is a cry from the depths. In many ways, and in many places, Heman the Ezraite makes this point. He writes from the lowest place. Probably, you're familiar with some of the famous medieval castles of Europe. ancient dwellings of powerful kings and princes and dukes. These great buildings are surrounded by high walls and battlements, sometimes by moats, and can only be accessed by drawbridges. The castle was a place of power and authority, and its size and strength reflected the high rank in society that was held by its lord. Now we know that many of these castles had dungeons. dark underground rooms where enemies or criminals might be placed for punishment. And it's not unusual to watch a movie that is set in a medieval fortress and see a scene that's filmed in a dungeon. But often the dungeon was not the most horrible place in the castle for an out of favor person to be abandoned. There was another site, much worse than any dungeon could possibly be. Usually it was located at the lowest point of the deepest dungeon. There you might see a metal grate on the floor. To us, it perhaps would look like a sewer cover, but it was not. It had hinges on one side, and a locking mechanism on the opposite side, and it marked the spot of what's called an oubliette. This small chamber, often no wider than the space a human body would take while standing, at about eight or 10 feet deep, at the foundation of the castle, where all manner of runoff would come through the grate and puddle at the bottom. It would be a disgusting, terrible, unsanitary place. And into this tiny, deep, dark space, someone would be dropped, and most frequently, left to die. There's no light, no room to move, no escape. And the name for this lowest and worst prison is French, oubliette. It comes from the verb oublier, which means to forget. And it describes the hopeless situation of anyone who is placed there. No food, no water, no human companionship, no rest. The prisoner was forgotten. dropped into the oubliette, left to die alone, and deprived of all comfort. And the only thing that the prisoner could do while in the oubliette was to cry for mercy and for help. You wonder, would anyone hear? Would anyone respond? Imagine the scene. Help! over and over again, so long as there was life and breath. Help! Have mercy! Come and save me! Rescue me! In many ways, Heman the Ezraite describes his life in these terms. Now we don't find him in a physical oubliette in the lowest place of a dungeon, but his language very much describes this kind of experience. He says, I'm counted with those who go down to the pit. You've laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the depths. I'm shut up and I can't get out. Heman is in God's oubliette. Now, what are we to make of this? How shall we understand and apply his experience to ourselves? This is our task today. So I want to walk through this with you. I hope you will be encouraged by this, although the beginning is not very encouraging, is it? I acknowledge that fact. Well, we can begin by learning some things that we know about Haman the Ezraite himself. You'll notice there's a superscription at the top of the psalm, and there he's identified as the author. Now there are several clues that can help us to understand something of what's going on in the psalm. The first of them is the place of Psalm 88 in the Book of Psalms, and also we need to look at this superscription and contemplate it. Now think along with me. Psalm 88 in the Book of Psalms. There are 150 of them in this collection, and they've not been placed together randomly. Sometimes that's the way we approach the Book of Psalms. We think about it as just a collection. But you have read it, and you know that even in that way, it's broken up into five books. And they're not arranged simply by authorship, nor are they chronological. If they were, Psalm 90 would be the first. It's the oldest of all the Psalms. But rather, they're placed into five books which speak to us primarily about David and his kingdom. The first book, Psalms one through 41, largely though not exclusively, tell us about David's life and his experiences before coming to the throne. David is the author of all of the Psalms in the first book. In book two, Psalms 42 through 72, these Psalms contemplate the kingdom at its high point, culminating in Solomon's Psalm of Praise. But the third book of Psalms, Psalms 73 through 89, turns in a different direction because it describes to us the failure of the Davidic kingdom because of the sins of the people and the sins of the kings. The fourth book, Psalms 90 through 106, turn our eyes away from earthly kings. They help us to contemplate the only true and righteous king for God's people who is the Lord himself. And the final book, 107 through 150, leads the reader to praise the God of heaven and earth in all his glory. Our psalm comes in the third book. Palmer Robertson gave this third book the title, Devastation, because it honestly depicts the trouble that came upon Israel from the chastening hand of God. In some cases it reveals the sins of believers, in others the sins of the nation, but it honestly portrays the consequences of putting one's trust in human princes. The next to the last Psalm in this book, Psalm 88, which we have before us, carries forward this theme. Life in this world is hard. Even for those who know and love the Lord, they must endure God's chastisements, and sometimes they do so for reasons beyond our understanding. So it shouldn't surprise us that it is the lowest point in the entire psalter, because from here, one can only look up and go up. That's what's happening. Now, notice the superscription of the psalm, because it also gives us some help. a song, a psalm of the sons of Korah, to the chief musician, set to Mahalath-li-anath, a contemplation of Heman the Ezraite. The first portion of this superscription, a song, et cetera, through Mahalath-li-anath, tells us that this poem was intended to be used in public worship. The Sons of Korah were a guild of musicians responsible for leading worship in the temple in Jerusalem, along with a chief musician, and these untranslated Hebrew words are probably the name of the tune that was used. Sing this song in public worship and use this tune. The second thing that we notice is that this is called a contemplation, or maybe in your Bible that's untranslated and it says maskil. The Hebrew word seems to suggest meditation or instruction. That is, we're meant to think deeply about the contents of our psalm. The third thing that we notice here is the author, Heman the Ezraite. Now Ezraite is a family name, his surname. Heman, if it were literally translated for us, means faithful. That's his given name. faithful the Ezraite, and while he only appears here in the Psalms, we find him in other places in scripture appointed to serve under King David. In 1 Chronicles 25.5, we're told that he was a seer in the things of God. That is, we can infer that he was a man of faith and he was prominent in the spiritual life of Israel. The Lord chose him to be an instrument of the inspired scripture. And today we're able to enter into his experience. So what do we have here? We have a psalm written by a prominent spiritual leader intended for public worship for the purpose of instructing us in one of God's ways with his people. That's what we have. Now, the psalm divides itself quite simply. Verses one and two are an example of the classic beginning of a psalm of lament. They cry to God directly with great urgency. Verses three through five summarize for us Heman's cry, and verses six through 18 pick up the theme and describe it in greater detail. And what do we find here? Well, simply that our psalmist has been and continues to be in agony. Like a man in an oubliette, he cries out to God day and night. But notice the language of faith. The psalm begins, O Lord, God of my salvation. He calls his master to hear and respond. I think that when we read this, we need to hear the tone of complaint that's in his voice. He has shouted his plea to the Lord over and over again. and yet it seems as if there has been no reply. He's still trapped in the pit. He's unable to be free. He's enduring great pain and sorrow. Heman is before the Lord. He understands that even in the ubiat, God is present, and yet the Lord is silent. It's as if he's saying, where is the Lord? Where is the God of my salvation? Oh Lord, hear me. Oh God, save me. Despite the delay and the continued agony, this man's faith has not weakened. He trusts that the Lord will hear him and that the Lord will save him from his prison of misery. His summary of his trouble in verses three through five is very moving. In both soul and body, he feels the depth of pain. He's almost like a walking corpse and his soul might as well be dead. we might ask the question, what specifically is Heman's affliction? What is it that caused him to cry out like this? Was it some kind of physical disease? Did he suffer a profound loss such as the death of a spouse? Did he encounter a Judas in his life, betrayed by a trusted friend? The answer is, we don't know, and we can't tell. Much of the language in this song is symbolic or metaphorical. Now, there are some who speculate that perhaps he was enduring one of the skin diseases such as leprosy that required physical separation from family and friends because he says that he is alone and away from people, they suggest that that might be the case. To be honest with you, I don't find it very convincing. It reveals, or it relies on, the most circumstantial bits of evidence. Certainly, these diseases could produce the kind of lament that we find here, but to state that this is Heman's affliction presses the evidence beyond what it can bear. The fact that the psalm, along with the other mentions of Heman in the Old Testament, does not describe a specific cause of suffering is actually to our benefit. Because if this psalm were to identify a particular cause, we might be tempted to limit its usefulness to those who endure a similar circumstance. Well, that's for people who lost a loved one, have a physical affliction. We might say that. But because it's open-ended, the psalm becomes a means of help for every believer who faces deep and profound troubles in life. You see, the way that it's presented to us, it's a universal description of deep pain among God's faithful people. Brothers and sisters, it's for you and it's for me. Now, in the long section from verse six through verse 18, there are several things to note. The first thing I want you to notice is how it is bracketed by the idea of darkness. Verse six, you've laid me in the lowest pit in darkness and in the depths, verse 18. Loved one and friend, you've put far from me and my acquaintances into darkness. Notice these two verses. In verse six, the Lord metaphorically places Heman in the oubliette in utter darkness. And the following verses should be read under this dark shadow. And verse 18 concludes with a similar thought. You know, it's difficult to translate. Commentators acknowledge that the final few words are challenging. I'm reading to you from the New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, and the English Standard Version render it similarly, but we ask the question, what does it mean? Is it that from Heman's perspective, his loved ones and friends have been taken away so that he cannot see or hear them? Well, that would seem to be the sense. But if you have an ESV in front of you, there's an interesting footnote. and I find the footnote to be very helpful. It suggests that there's another way to translate these difficult Hebrew words, and it makes a great deal of sense, especially in the context. It gives the alternative translation. It says this, darkness has become my only companion. Now, I would prefer that the word order of the original be maintained so that it says, my only companion is darkness, or literally, my only companion darkness, that's the way it's stated, that fits the psalm well. As Heman ends this poem, his prayer has not yet been answered. He waits for the Lord in the depth of the shadow of the oubliette, and he stands as an example to us of continued cries and pleas to the Lord for help in the midst of the most difficult trouble. That in itself should encourage us. Heman, remember, his name means faithful, Heman does not give in to utter despair and fall into silence. Rather, he constantly raises his voice to heaven to seek help and to seek deliverance. Now, may I speculate just for a moment? It is possible that the inclusion of Psalm 88 in the Book of Psalms, and thus in the Word of God, implies to us that at some point the Lord did answer Heman's cry. Someone recognized the inspired nature of this poem and incorporated it into the third book of the Psalter. The language used is evocative and consistently depicts a believer in great distress. He's alone. He's imprisoned. He wonders if death is nearby. He repeatedly emphasizes calling on the Lord in verse 9, in verse 13, in verse 14. These are the words of a child in great danger pleading for a parent to come and help. Verse 12, Heman sounds like a man who wishes to continue leading worship. The temple is the place of adoration, not darkness or forgetfulness. It was in the temple that the wonders of God were made known. You probably noticed twice in this psalm, the Hebrew word silah is used, a word that means pause and meditate over trouble. If we pause and meditate, we recognize that the pictures are frightening. Verses six and seven, there is a mixed metaphor, a pit, the depths, waves, breakers are drowning him. Last night I was watching a weather report of the storm that went up the East Coast and there were depictions of people standing on the beach in North Carolina and Delaware watching the huge waves come rolling in. We know how dangerous that can be. Verses nine and 10 contemplate death. Sila. Stop and meditate. Heman tells us that his sorrow originates with the hand of God. In fact, in eight different places, he makes this clear. Verse six, seven, eight, 14, 15, 16, and 18. His trouble is not a result of his own sin, but rather it's the Lord's providential way in his life. Other Psalms in this third book speak of affliction because of sin. For example, Asaph's slipping and stumbling in Psalm 73, because he envied the prosperity of the wicked. But there's no hint of that here. Heman is like Job, or like Paul, or even like our Lord Jesus, who endured the deepest possible suffering as he faced the horror of the cross. For his own purposes, the good Lord who loves his people sends some of them into the darkest and deepest trouble. And he gives them this psalm and other examples such as Job and Paul and the believers in the book of Hebrews and our Lord Jesus to help us. We heard Paul's voice already in 2 Corinthians 11. He was not afraid to admit that he despaired even of life in the midst of his afflictions. The Hebrew Christians, I quote, endured a great struggle with sufferings, and they were reminded that some were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had a trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And even of our sinless savior, it is said, in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear, though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. You see, Psalm 88 is part of a great theme of scripture. We are strangers and aliens in this world, and this life is full of trouble. We're called to endure suffering, all the while calling out to the Lord for deliverance. Our rest and our comfort is not in this present evil age, but rather in the world to come. We're called to look forward, to look upward. and hope for that which is before us. Heman's experience is a reminder to us that we ought to expect trouble now. It weans us from the love of the world and turns our attention to heaven. Now, someone might ask the question, is there any light in this psalm about darkness? And the answer is yes, indeed. We've already noticed some of it. The fact that the psalm is included in the canon of scripture tells us that the Lord wants us to know and understand, to contemplate and be instructed by its words. But that's not all that we have. Here is a man whose name means faithful, addressing the covenant Lord by his most intimate name, a name revealed only to Israel, calling him the God of his salvation and seeking his help in trouble. Though faithful is in God's oubliette, He never forgets his Lord. Three times he uses that name of God, Jehovah or Yahweh. In verse one, verse nine, and verse 14. A reminder that he is in covenant with God and that the one who is always faithful, whose name isn't just faithful, but is always faithful, who's greater than any human commitment, listens and hears. In a medieval dungeon oubliette, the cries of the prisoner would go unheeded. The guards would ignore. The prince was so far removed from the dungeon, he would never hear the fervent pleas of the prisoner. But Heman knows that the Lord will hear, though he may delay. The psalmist must continue to cry to the great king, trusting that at the right time, he will hear and he will deliver. And even if the king keeps him in the oubliette until death, a better hope awaits. Now, what should we say about this psalm? There's several important things we need to say about it. First, this psalm validates the experience of believers who endure suffering. Suffering is a genuine Christian experience. Let's think this through just for a moment. I can hear someone say, but that was the Old Testament. We live under the new covenant. We have the spirit who produces joy. It's certainly true that we live under the new covenant, and we've received the spirit who works joy in us, but this in no way negates the realities of Psalm 88. Think about these facts. We've already heard Paul's words. I read them to you earlier from Romans chapter 15, which tells us that the writings of the Old Testament are given for our benefit. We're to read them and learn from them, but also, We must remember that for much of the apostolic era, the only scripture that was available to them was the Old Testament, and it is inspired and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness. All of God's word belongs to us, and we need it in its fullness. In fact, I'm more convinced than ever of this, and I hope that you are as well. Thirdly, We've noted the fact that many New Testament believers endured suffering similar to Heman's. This is not an isolated Old Testament experience, but rather one vignette in a tapestry that extends from Genesis to Revelation. Even the saints in heaven know sorrow. Remember these words from Revelation 21? I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held, and they cried out. Now these are saints' souls in heaven. And they cried out with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them. And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed. You see, it's not until the end, the final resurrection, that God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. I fear that we have been too easily and too readily deceived by prosperity preachers into thinking that the life of Christ's disciples is one of continuous and increasing comfort and joy. The Bible tells a different story. We ought to expect trouble in this life, and sometimes, for some, it will be just as profound as Heman's trouble. Brother or sister, this means that when you face a circumstance like this, critical illness, bereavement, abandonment, betrayal, or any other dark providence. This is not an indication that you've sinned, but rather it's an opportunity, painful though it may be, to draw near to God through texts such as Psalm 88. Think about it like this. Would you be so bold, simply by yourself, to address God in the type of terms that Heman uses in this psalm? I think most of us would be quite reluctant to do that. But remember, this is a psalm, a psalm for public worship, a prayer to God for deliverance that is given to you. You may take these very words. and bring them before the Lord. You may say, oh Lord, God of my salvation, hear the words that you have given to me. Why have you laid me in the lowest pit? Why do you cast off my soul? Why do you hide your face from me? And be comforted by the fact that the Lord is glad to hear his own words that are coming from the mouths of his people. I wonder, if Psalm 88 might have been on the lips of our Lord Jesus when he was in Gethsemane. The Psalms were his prayer book, and this may be the case. Certainly when you read in Mark and Luke their description of what happens in Gethsemane, they seem to have Psalm 88 in mind as they describe the events of the crucifixion. But in any case, brother and sister, Please be comforted by this psalm. Receive its instruction and through, using Paul's language, through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures, have hope. Because this psalm gives us hope. Secondly, there's an important word here for those of us who do not endure suffering like humans. As the psalm was read to us, did you notice how he complains of being alone? of companions being far from him. Even the way it ends, my only companion is darkness. The oubliette is a solitary confinement at its extreme. While we don't know the circumstances of human separation from friend and loved one, we must learn from his isolation. Christian love calls us to be companions to brothers and sisters in their time of darkness. We have obligations to them. On the one hand, we must overcome our tendency to think of trials as punishments and keep our distance from those who endure them. We are taught to weep with those who weep, and we must do this. The false doctrine which denies sorrow in the Christian life and promotes prosperity and happiness must be rejected. Root it out of your thinking. Have compassion on sisters and brothers who endure hardship, difficulty, and sufferings. In a Christian church, we have obligations to one another. We ought to make it our aim to see that no believer we know endures suffering alone as Heman did. so far as it is within our power. Let us comfort and encourage one another. Speak a word of love. Remind your friend of the key of promise to overcome giant despair and pray for his or her delivery. Paul says, love suffers long and is kind. Actually what Paul says is, can't really translate it into English, but I try, love kindnesses. It's not just that love is kind, It's that kindness is a characteristic of love. It acts in a kind way. It acts according to the needs of others, seeking to aid them in their troubles. And so we must love one another. When you know a brother or sister who's going through darkness like this, come alongside and be an encouragement and be a help. Strengthen that person. Psalm 88 teaches us that fact. We've stated that the book of Psalms was Jesus' prayer book God in his kindness prepared everything for his son and it served him in many ways. If Martin Luther is correct in saying that all of the Psalms are about Jesus, may we read this as his prayer. Think about the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew and understood the horror that was before him. Listen to how Matthew describes the scene. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, sit here while I go and pray over there. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me. He went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, what? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again a second time he went away and prayed, saying, oh, my father, if this cup cannot pass from me, unless I drink it, your will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So he left them, went away again, and prayed the third time. saying the same words. Jesus wanted the companionship of his disciples and they slept. Let's not sleep when our brothers and sisters need us. Let's come to them and help them and pray with them and strengthen them. Thirdly, much of this is reminiscent of our psalm. We're told that Jesus was sorrowful and deeply distressed, even to the point of death. He was profoundly exercised in his soul by the dread of the events that were immediately before him. What man could do otherwise? He knew that the physical sufferings of crucifixion would be horrible, but even more so, facing the wrath of God against sin, draining the cup of wrath to the dregs would be the greatest trial anyone could ever know. He did not go to Calvary unaware. He was fully conscious of everything he would encounter. As he comes to the garden, he's accompanied by his closest friends, Peter, James, and John. They were brought to aid him, and what did they do? They fell asleep. They left him alone. Three times he prayed alone. We might even go beyond the garden and consider the entire experience of his ordeal. Abandoned by friends, exhausted and without sleep, beaten by enemies, finally crying out, in the words of Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Without diminishing human sorrow in any way, we might read Psalm 88 as a transcript of Jesus' experience as he walked toward and endured the cross. Brothers and sisters, this ought to give us great hope. because it reminds us of a great truth. Writer to the Hebrews says this, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. When you pray Psalm 88, you come to God by way of an intercessor who has experienced deeper and darker sorrow than you have ever known. When you pray this prayer and you say, in Jesus' name, he knew what Psalm 88 was about, and you bring it to the Father in that way. Because of this, he is sympathetic with your trouble. He knows, he understands, he hears. So you may come boldly into the throne room of heaven, and bring your request before the majestic throne of grace, and there find mercy, the cry of one who's in the ubliet, and find grace to help in your time of need. See, this is not a promise of immediate resolution, but a promise of divine assistance. The Savior will give you grace to endure, and you will find help. You are not alone. You have loved ones, you have friends, but even better than that, you have a compassionate high priest. You have the ear of the Lord of heaven and earth to help in a time of trouble. But finally, let me remind you of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He endured the cross, despising its shame. He made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So I ask you this question. Have you bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ? You will, now or at the last day. And I can say this, he is a wonderful savior and a compassionate redeemer and a forgiving Lord. He took our sin upon himself. He endured the wrath of God so that we might be forgiven. He went through darkness for our sake so that we might have light. He died so that we might have life. And he gives everything freely to all who will place their faith in him. So if you've not yet placed your faith in Jesus Christ, I ask you this question, why would you wait? Why would you wait? If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Will you confess and believe in the Savior? Psalm 88 is dark. There's no denying this fact. As we've seen, it has some light. And when set in the context of the whole of scripture, the darkness begins to dissipate. God's oubliette is undoubtedly a difficult place to be, and none of us should want to be there. Even Jesus asked the Lord to take it from him. But Psalm 88 may also be encouraging. It reminds us that we need the Lord, that he hears us, even when we cry out to him in the darkest moments of life. The color tone of the psalm may be the deepest shade of blue, and the tune may be in a dissonant minor key, But there is light and there is melody for those who will listen. Glory be to God. Amen. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, our God, we thank you that the scriptures provide to us a realistic portrait of life. And even in passages like this, which are so dark and so difficult, they give us help and hope. For any here this morning who are in such an experience, would you draw near to that one? Give comfort and give strength. Increase faith. Make us all to be humans, faithful in the way that we address you and look to you and find help from you. We pray that you would be glorified in our lives. Remind us that our hope is not in this world, it's in the world to come. That our Savior has opened a path And as we follow him one day, we will enter in to that glorious resurrection and be joined with the saints of all of the ages to praise your holy name. Thank you for your word. Watch over us now we ask in Jesus name. Amen.